Cultivator.



L. H. BELTZER.

CULTIVA'IOR.

APPLICATION 111.111) 111 11.22, 1911.

1,040,999, .Patented 001. 15, 1912.

LEWIS H. BELTZER, OF HENNESSEY, OKLAHOMA.

CULTIVATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 15,1912.

Application filed April 22, 1911. Serial No. 622,798.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Lnwls H. BELTZER, farmer, citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at I-Iennessey, in the county of Kingfisher and Stateof Oklahoma, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCultivators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to cultivators and has for its object to providemeans for so attaching disks to the inner beams of a cul- I tivatorthat, while shiftable laterally with the handles, they shall alwaysmaintain the same angle to the line of draft and hence guard against thepossibility of injury to a row of plants between them if the ordinarydegree of care and skill is displayed in the handling of the machine.

A further object is to produce means for guarding against an accidentaldecrease in the distance between the disks and thereby relieve theoperator of the necessity of closely watching both disks in thecultivating operation, and of the labor involved in maintaining thedisks the desired distance apart.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certainnovel and peculiar features of construction and organization ashereinafter described and claimed; and in order that it may be fullyunderstood reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing, in whichFigure 1, is a side View of a walking cultivator provided with a diskattachment embodying my invention, the near wheel of the cultivatorbeing omitted. Fig. 2, is a top plan View of the same, with both wheelsin lace. Fig. 3, is a transverse section taken through the handles andthe gage bar extending transversely thereof. Fig. 4:, is a detailvertical section showing one of the disk-carrying shafts and a crank armadjustably secured thereto.

In the said drawing, 1 indicates the carrying wheels and 2 the customarycrank axle or its equivalent of the cultivator.

3 are the customary brackets mounted on the axle and pivoted at 4 tobrackets 5, to which are secured outer and inner beams 6 and 7 theformer being provided with the customary bull tongues or shovels 6, andsecured in the customary manner or other wise to each set of beams, is ahandle 8.

9 is an eye-bolt extending through the left hand handle and secured inposition by a nut 10. Pivotally engaging the eye-bolt 1s a gage bar 11provided with a longitudinal series of holes 12, to accommodateadustment of bolt 13, by which a depending arm 14 is clamped in theinner or channel slde of the bar; said arm being adapted to engage theinner side of the opposite or rlght hand handle and thus prevent thehandles moving toward each other, and to prevent the bar from beingjolted upward, a keeper or retainer 15 is securedto the lastnamed handleand overlies the gage bar, one end of the retainer being free to permitthe gage bar to he slipped between the same and the handle in placing itin or removing it from operative position. r

16 are plates or standards arranged vertically and secured to the rearends of the inner or short beams 7 and said plates are provided withvertical bearing sleeves 17, wherein are jonrnaled short vertical shafts18 provided at their lower ends with outwardly projecting crank arms 19,on which are journaled disks 20, the inner ends of the hubs of the diskbeing covered by caps 21 to exclude sand and dirt from the journals.

The upper ends of the shafts are tapered at 21 and terminate in threadedstems 21 and engaging the tapered portions 21 are crank arms 22, thesame being clamped rigidly to the shafts by means of nuts 22 andinterposed spring washers 22".

Pivoted to the outer ends of the crank arms 22 are angle plates 23, andextending through said angle plates are rods 24 which substantiallyparallel the inner beams 7 and are secured firmly to the pivoted angleplates by nuts 25, which engage the rear ends of the rods at oppositesides of the angle plates. The front ends of the angle plates arepivotally connected or linked to collars 26 secured on the axle 2between the wheels and collars 3, the connections between the rods andcollars 26 being preferably by means of short links 27.

Assuming that the parts are arranged as shown, it will be apparent thatthe disks cannot move nearer together because of the gage bar and cannotmove farther apart accidentally owing to the inward and downwardpressure which the operator imposes on the handles, and owing to thefact that the disks are unable to move nearer together it will beapparent that the operator need Watch closely only a single disk as thecompanion one will travel in a line parallel therewith. Because of thisfact less skill is required for the proper control of the machine.

Should the operator swing the handles laterally, the disks will move inthe same direction but will maintain the same angle to the line of draftowing to the fact that the inner beams and the rods 24 are substantiallyparallel and are pivoted at substantially equal distances from shaft 18and the outer end of crank handle 22. By thus maintaining the disks atthe same angles they always turn furrows of the same width,

and knowing this, the operator can gage their positions with referenceto the plants more accurately and avoid chance of accidentallydestroying the same. Another advantage in maintaining the disks at thesame angle to the line of draft is that the operator can turn furrows ofmore uniform de th.

For cultivating cotton, garden stu ,sugar beets and other small or youngvegetation, I have found disks of this character preferable to theordinary shovels as there is less danger of cutting the roots of theplants. In the drawings, the disks are shown as arranged to throwoutwardly but by loosening nuts 2%, the positions of the disks can bereversed sothat they shall throw inwardly, the nuts being then tightenedto clamp the arms 22 to the shafts 18 in their new relation, so that therods 24 shall retain the parallel relation with the inner beamsnecessary in maintaining the disks at the same angles, irrespective ofthe lateral movement imparted to the handles by the operator foraccommodating plants which are out of line or for any other purpose.

From the above description it will be apparent that I have produced acultivator possessing the features of advantage enumerated as desirable,and I wish it to be understood that while I have illustrated anddescribed the preferred embodiment of the invention I do not desire tobe restricted to the exact details of construction shown and wardlyprojecting beams carried by each of the last-named brackets, oneconstituting the outer and the other the inner beam, cultivatingappliances attached to the rear ends of the outer beams, a handle rigidwith each pair of beams, a gage bar connecting the handles and limitingtheir movement toward each. other without interfering with theirmovement in the opposite direction, vertical standards attached to thesaid inner beams, and provided with vertical bearing sleeves, shortvertical shafts journaled in said sleeves and provided at their lowerends with crank arms and terminating in tapered upper ends and threadedstems projecting upwardly from said ends, cultivating disks journaled onsaid crank arms, crank arms engaging said tapered portions of saidshafts, means engaging said threaded stems and clamping the last-namedcrank arms rigidly on said tapered portions, angle plates pivoted tosaid last-named crank arms and rods connecting said angle plates withthe axle and extending substantially parallel with said inner beams.

2. The combination of a cultivator provided with beams pivoted to swinglaterally, cultivating devices carried by said beams, handles carried bythe beams, a gage bar secured to one of the handles and resting on theother and provided with a depending arm engaging the inner side of thelastnamed handle, and a retainer to hold the bar upon said handle.

The combination of acultivator provided with beams pivoted to swinglaterally, cultivating devices carried by said beams, handles carried bythe beams, a gage bar secured to one of the handles and resting on theother and provided with a longitudinal series of holes, a bolt engagingone of said holes, an arm secured to the gage bar by said bolt, andengaging the inner side ofthe handle on which the gage bar rests, and aretainer secured to said handle and overlying the gage bar.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature, in the presence of twowitnesses.

LEWIS H. BELTZER.

Witnesses J. L. HINEs, J. L. MURPHY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

